This invention relates to knee-restraining devices for vehicles such as passenger cars in which a deformable member is mounted on a rigid support member which extends across the width of the vehicle beneath the dashboard.
Knee-restraining devices of this type are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,056. Such knee-restraining devices usually extend continuously from the mounting positioned at one side wall, for example, on an A-post of the vehicle, to a corresponding mounting positioned on the opposite side wall of the vehicle, at approximately the height of the passengers' knees. Usually, electrical wiring and components and similar equipment are mounted behind the knee-restraining device, i.e., forwardly thereof in the direction of motion of the vehicle. To permit access to such components, it is often necessary for the entire knee-restraining device to be removed. This is particularly disadvantageous when the vehicle includes a center panel designed to hold miscellaneous components such as radios and the like and the restraining device is installed behind the center panel. In such cases, the panel with its components must be completely disassembled before the knee-restraining device can be removed. An even more difficult situation is presented when the restraining device is installed behind a mounting that supports the center of the dashboard.